and other things that matter

'apart from a few setbacks, I have always been lucky all my life...' - diana athill, alive, alive oh!

well it's ptah the el daoud day - the anniversary of the recording (all in one day) of ptah the el daoud by alice coltrane, pharoah sanders, joe henderson, ron carter, and ben riley, up at the coltrane residence in dix hills on this day in 1970. here's a piece on the 2020 anniversary.  alice was struggling for a lot of this period with mourning the death of her husband john coltrane, raising four kids and getting her career going. and yet the music is so strong and so immediately formed. 

last night a wolf moon. (horsemouth couldn't see it but he knew it was there)

it is also the anniversary of the release of another golden glow mix by howard, this time from 2020 also (brian eno, teebs, julianna barwick, weval, throwing snow and more). 

 

the sun is up off the horizon and progressing(?) nicely to the north (until it reaches its maximum point at the solstice).  there are differences in sun path as well (its height in the sky). for horsemouth (a classic frog in a well kind of guy) the sun is having difficulty escaping the trees further down the valley (but soon it will be free to roam the horizon).  now it is above the wood and (annoyingly) shining in directly on where horsemouth sits. 

 athill starts her book alive, alive oh! and other things that matter by discussing the garden of her grandparents at ditchingham. 

'in the 18th century william cobbett wrote a didactic book about gardening which included a plan of the ideal kitchen garden. many years after I had grown up and was living in london I came across it, and to my delight recognised the ditchingham garden in every detail...' 

horsemouth has a couple of cobbett's round here (rural rides  of course, but also the english gardener,  and cottage economy, which is proving elusive, also). he had sorted out all the self-sufficiency and such like books into a pile planning to be good and to start reading them for gardening advice. there that's bugging him now. 

it is a nice safe topic with which to start. next a discussion of the post-war period and then one on visiting the caribbean (tobago) - she is alert to the  privilege and discrimination. then onto more difficult material (that horsemouth will discuss when he's read it).

sunday horsemouth's brother's eldest comes to stay, horsemouth will return to the wen for about a week (and attempt to do some walking and catching up with people).  looks like there is stuff coming up on the 10th but it looks like horsemouth will not be about.